British Army recruits gamers to pilot dusty Apaches

According to the UK's Sunday Mirror, the British Army is actively seeking out veteran gamers for military service. Senior officers have descended upon schools, hoping to recruit an ~~elite~~ l33t team of Apache pilots. Headhunters are targeting teens as young as 17 with the promise of university scholarships (after service). A senior Army Air Corps source explained that the "new generation of computer-game playing youngsters glued to their PlayStations, Xboxes, and Game Boys" has already developed "some" of the skills necessary to fly an Apache. Interesting theory.

GameSpot notes that the British Army is desperate to train a squadron of pilots capable of handling a fleet of 67 Apaches that were ordered back in 2002 (for more than $4.5 billion). The training program has been delayed for nearly three years, and most of the Apaches remain in storage.

Reader Comments (17)

The military want to fill places with teenaged gamers? Wouldn't they all be going to war arguing about health packs and who gets the shotgun? If they lost, they'd just blame the n00bs on their team.

Sorry, but this is as bad as Jack Thompson's assertions that games cause violence. Just because I can complete Gradius without using all my lives, doesn't mean I can take part in a helicopter assault on Iraqland. All it means is that I have good hand-eye coordination, and a reasonable memory.

In other news: James Nobody, a professional Wii Sports player, has been drafted into the US Open Championship against Pat Rafter in the opening round.

Seriously tho, are they that desperate for pilots?

I'm still waiting for the mouse and keyboard controlled tank.

How much xp do the missions give?

haha... The above two comments aside, gaming actually teaches you the essential skills to operate most of today's computerized machinery.

It's also of note, playing FPS's make surgeon's a lot better at their job.

OMG Sign me up! My dream is to fly an apache!

Headshot...Pwnd!!!!...Headshot...Utra-Kill...Rampage!... ohh you n00b!

Wow. A lack of pilots...but no lack of Apaches? Interesting. The Apaches have been reliable and very useful in the war in Iraq, but sand and those damn surface-to-air rockets/missiles (from us, the US, and the soviet-era back in the day) have really hampered operations.

I guess you still have to become an officer just to be considered to fly it like you do in the states.

No - the UK bought a bunch of Apaches a while back, but never got round to training pilots for them. It was a bit of a scandal, as we (that is, the UK, not me and some other people) couldn't really afford the Apaches in the first place.

When I was young - maybe 12 or so, my grandma pulled some strings with friends and my cousin, sister and I got our own personalized tour of a National Guard Apache. Those things are seriously cool. The gun turret follows the gunner's helmet movements, so it looks where he looks. Lots of cameras and buttons and screens. Hell, aside from maybe, uh, dying, flying an Apache wouldn't be so bad a deal.

Oh, and to prove that I wasn't a little badass, I do remember freaking out a little when they turned on the engines. You know. A little.

Actually, flyguy, either the news or the Joystiqery of it makes it seem you can fly the Apaches BEFORE going to college: "hoping to recruit an elite l33t team of Apache pilots...with the promise of university scholarships (after service)." So I guess they must mean graduate education scholarships?

And this is probably the Brits' greatest idea since, well, Yorktown. Just like in Robin Williams' Toys, they're looking to use the people who are already good at this stuff. Obviously, they still would have to go through officer accessions, flight school, and their branch training, so it's not like they're handing the cockpit keys to gamers outright.

How many lives do you get? Are power-ups available?

I completed Gunship 2000 on the Amiga, where do I sign for my Apache?

Ahhh...finally something to make me believe that my 10.000.000 hours of simulator flight time is actually useful. But hey, who wants to fly old apaches? Come on Brits share some of that Eurofighter love with us!

I believe it's been noted for a while that as modern combat get more and more electronic, even down to the gear the average foot soldier will be carrying, that the gamer generation will be the best soldiers, pilots, etc.

Something to do with certain skill sets used in games, not just things like reactions times but coming with numerous fast moving bits of information sources, etc.

Sorry my post above #13, was supposed to be #3, but Joystiq's horrible mailing system took over 10 hours to send me a confirmation email.

Since I beat Airwolf on NES and Airwolf is the greatest military helicopter ever do I get a signing bonus? My only requirement is the theme song plays the entire time I fly a mission.

British Army recruits gamers to pilot dusty Apaches

Reader Comments (17)

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